Two US Senators have teamed up to introduce a bipartisan resolution reaffirming America’s recognition of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley said in a press statement.
In the rare bipartisan signal of unequivocal support to India, the introduced the resolution to support India’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”, condemn China for the “use of military force” to change the status quo at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and other provocations, ANI reported.
Senator Jeff Merkley teamed up with Senator Bill Hagerty to introduce the resolution, which comes after the clash between India and China in the Eastern Sector along the LAC.
“America’s values supporting freedom and a rules-based order must be at the center of all of our actions and relationships around the world–especially as the PRC government pushes an alternative vision,” said Senator Merkley, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, according to a government statement.
“This resolution makes clear that the United States views the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of the Republic of India–not the People’s Republic of China–and commits the U.S. to deepen support and assistance to the region, alongside like-minded international partners and donors,” Merkley said.
The resolution also supports India’s defence modernisation and diversification, applauds India’s development efforts in Arunachal, commits to deepening US assistance in the region and expresses support for the US-India bilateral partnership.
“At a time when China continues to pose grave and gathering threats to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, it’s critical for the United States to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our strategic partners in the region–especially India,” Senator Hagerty reportedly said.
“This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognizing the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, condemning China’s military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, and further enhancing the U.S.-India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” he added.
The resolution is significant since this is the first time that there is a detailed resolution of this nature echoing India’s position on Arunachal Pradesh and wider Chinese aggression at the LAC in the US Senate.
Moreover, the resolution commends the Indian government for taking steps to defend itself against aggression and security threats from the People’s Republic of China.
The resolution reaffirms that the US recognizes the McMahon Line as the international boundary between China and India’s Arunachal Pradesh and pushes back against Beijing claims that Arunachal Pradesh is a Chinese territory, the statement added.
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